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Sarah M
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| Posted: Jan 24 2008 at 4:08pm | IP Logged
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Have any of you used Oak Meadow curriculum for a first grader? Do you recommend it?
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cathhomeschool
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| Posted: Jan 24 2008 at 9:28pm | IP Logged
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Sarah, since this is a curriculum question and not a philosophical one, I'm moving it to Real Learning and More.
I have Oak Meadow 1st grade, but am so *not* a curriculum person (especially at the younger ages) that I only followed the first two days.  I haven't looked at the rest of it yet. I do know that others here have used it, though, so hopefully you'll get more helpful feedback!
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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mama251ders
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We are planning on using it next year for 1st and 5th grade with a few modifications. My will-be first grader is already beginning to read, so we will sub something for their learn-to-read lessons. Both of my boys will be in 5th grade but one is a couple of years behind in math and one is a couple of years ahead so we have to make modifications for that. I have heard that they are really willing to work with families to make it fit. I would be interested in reading others experiences with it.
Blessings,
Betsie
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JuliaT
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I don't have 1st grade, but I am using OM K. I am not at all a curriculum person. Actually, just the words, 'curriculum-in-a-box' causes me to shudder. But I came upon OM in the fall (I think it was due to the Waldorf discussion here on the boards) and it tempted me. I have always done my own thing with my two oldest. But this year I have felt extremely stressed due to my ds's speech and reading problems as well as my chldren's sensory issues. I didn't want to have to do my own thing again as well as deal with the other things as I start K with my youngest. I thought that having someone tell me what to do and when to do it would be a nice thing. So I bought OM K.
We started it two weeks ago. I have to say that of all of the pre--packaged curriculums, this one is the one that I would go with. The early years are not workbook based, they are discovery based, which is a big hit with me. It is a very gentle introduction to learning. I love the stories, the intro to nature studies, the crafts, etc. This is a feel good curriculum, at least it is for me now. This is the kind of K year that I wished I had given my oldest. I am just thankful that I can give it to my youngest.
It is set up on a weekly schedule. They list what you need to do for that week in every subject: reading, math, science, craft, movement, etc. and you decided when you want to plug those subjects in. They use stories and art to learn the lessons for math and reading. For K, they introduce the capital letters. For Gr. 1 they introduce lower case letters and then start using word families to teach reading. I have heard that Gr. 1 math is a bit evasive. They do not give you exact directions on what to do for math every week. I don't know anything about this though.
The elementary grades (gr. 1--3) are carried out like K, but the older grades are a bit more of what you would expect of a pre--pachaged curriculum.
Even though I really like the K curriculum, I will not be using OM for Gr. 1. I will go back to doing my own thing with my youngest for Gr. 1, but it is nice to have that respite for a year.
Blessings,
Julia
mom of 3 (8,7,5)
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mama251ders
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| Posted: Jan 26 2008 at 11:38am | IP Logged
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Thanks for the review. I am not normally a curriculum person either. I usually put my own together and we do just fine. But when I saw this curriculum, I thought it was fabulous and most importantly would allow me to actually get things like arts and crafts done because it is integrated into the curriculum. I am not very good at getting much beyond the basics into our daily routine and I want to do more than that. It is also helpful to me when someone else comes up with the craft idea! I am not very creative on my own, but with a little inspiration, I can do all kinds of things. I just bought one of the teacher manuals off of the Waldorf curriculum yahoo group, so I am anxious to start really looking at the process. Hopefully I will have good things to tell!
Blessings,
Betsie
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nissag
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We used it withour older batch and are using it once again with our William. I love it, but find I'm re-writing it for our family as I go along.
I was inspired by Elizabeth, Katherine, and my little daughter Sophie to write our own math stories. Sophie took one look at our math gnomes and exclaimed "Mama, monks!". We live near a Cistercian Abbey and visit often. So now we're writing our own math stories based on the monks and their work.
FUN!
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Nissa
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Erin
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nissag wrote:
I was inspired by Elizabeth, Katherine, and my little daughter Sophie to write our own math stories. Sophie took one look at our math gnomes and exclaimed "Mama, monks!". We live near a Cistercian Abbey and visit often. So now we're writing our own math stories based on the monks and their work.
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Hey interesting!
Isn't it funny how things always inspire us and then we always seem to rabbit trail, just can't help ourselves 
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Erin
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MamaAcorn
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| Posted: Jan 28 2008 at 9:52am | IP Logged
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We used Oak Meadow last year for first grade. It was a good introduction into homeschooling and reassuring for a newby. We used it more for weekly ideas and did a bit of this and a bit of that. It was nice having everything together and organized and giving us a jumping point.
We bought second grade this year, but I find that it's staying on the shelf and we're doing more of our own thing using other resources.
Pam
mama to Alex 6.5, Jackson 3, and baby Izzy
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Lauri B
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| Posted: April 07 2008 at 3:45pm | IP Logged
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Oak Meadow is a very nice curriculum, IMHO. I particularly like the grades 5-8 which are very like the types of units that I write for my children myself! The 1st through 3rd grade is a nice, light curriculum. There are often times when you're told to "continue math concepts during the week" and things like that, so if you're not comfortable coming up with math games or other math work you may not enjoy it. The new Third Grade has been very much revised and is almost seems classical in its approach, while still being very gentle. LOL! :)
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Katie
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| Posted: April 24 2008 at 5:25pm | IP Logged
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Just a quick note to say that Oakwood is having their spring sale right now. 20% off elementary curriculums, 10% of high school and craft kits.
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Mother of 5 in South America. No 6 due in April.
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: Oak Meadow Curriculum
